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Only once in the previous eight editions of the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship has a host won the title. Canada accomplished the feat in 2004, when it edged the United States, 2-1, in the final.

Trinidad & Tobago would like to do the same in 2018, but the task will not be easy. It has seven wins in seven all-time appearances in the competition (23 games through 2015).

There are reasons for optimism, most especially the fact that Jamaal Shabazz – former head coach of the T&T and Guyana men’s national teams — was handed the reins of the Trinidad & Tobago Football Association women’s program in July 2017. His duties include being manager of the under-20 women’s national team.

Although T&T did not earn a berth in the 2016 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, the qualifying campaign for that competition contained talent that boosts the current U20 side.

One of those standing out was Raenah Campbell, who netted one goal in (4-0 win v Dominica on August 22, 2015). She burst onto the international scene in 2014, when she helped T&T to a third-place finish in the 2014 CONCACAF U-15 Girls’ Championship and was named to the Best XI. Campbell competed in the 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship and currently plays for the USA’s Drexel University, where she scored three goals in the 2017 NCAA season.

Equally critical to potential U-20 success is USA-based midfielder/defender Amaya Ellis, already a veteran of CONCACAF tournaments. The 18-year-old competed in the 2013 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship, earned a spot on the 2014 CONCACAF U-15 Girls’ Championship Best XI, played in the 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship and was a member of Germany’s FFC Frankfurt U17 side.

Others to watch include forward Laurelle Theodore (capped at senior level, 5 goals in Caribbean qualifying for the 2016 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship, scored 1-0 win over Jamaica in a U-20 friendly on November 16, 2017), midfielder Ranae Ward (capped at the senior level, 4 goals in Caribbean qualifying for the 2016 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship) and midfielder Dennecia Prince (scored in 1-0 win over Jamaica in a U-20 women’s friendly on November 18, 2017).

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